Journal jack-block and wheel-clamp



UNITED sarss PATENT OFFICE.

JORNL JACK-BLGGK AND W'E-IElilL-GLAMP.

ananasa.

specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 21, 1921.

Application filed December 1, 1920. Serial No. 427,507.

To all w/wm it may concer'n Be it known that T, CHARLES O. Vnsr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bluefield, in the county of Mercer and State of l/Vest VirginiaL have invented a certain new and useful lmprovement in Journal Jack-Blocks and Wheel-Clamps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. i

The primary object of this invention 1 s to provide an implement for use 1n removmg, or adjusting, or repairing the journal boxes of railway car trucks, and to clamp the wheel to a rail of the track'wliile the work is progressing.

The invention consists of a base-piece on which a lifting ack may be supported, having an upwardly inclined end provided with ways in which is arranged an adjustable wheel clamping member, hereinV referred to as the wheel clamp, adapted to en gage the back of the rim of the wheel and hold the wheel on the rail while the jack is being operated to lift the journal box free of the axle, said clamp having ratchet teeth engaged by a spring dog or bolt to hold it in given adjustment, as l will proceed now to explain and finally claim.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the implement in use. Fig. 2 is an end .elevation, with the truck'frame, track ra1l and part of the wheel in cross-section. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, on a larger scale, taken on line 3-8 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a cross'section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the implement alone.

l is a car wheel, having the ordinary. or any approved rim 2, and 3 is the axle. 4= is a journal box, also of ordinary or approved construction, mounted in the side frame 5 of the truck, and adapted to receive the journal of the axle. 6 is the track rail. 7 is an ordinary or approved lifting ack.

The implement of this invention comprises a base-piece 8, of metal, which may be supplied at one end with a suitable handhold 9 for handling it, and at its other end is an outwardly inclined upright 10, slotted longitudinally, as at 11, and provided with the opposite grooves 12; The wheel-clamp 13 has the shank 1d arranged in the slot 11 and said shank is provided with lateral flanges 15 and 16 which travel 'in the grooves 12. The fiange 15 is made as a ratchet andV the teeth thereof are engaged by a spring dog or bolt arranged in the upright 10 at right angles thereto. This dog has the beveled nose-piece 17 to engage the ratchet teeth; the squared or angular shank 18 engaging a complemental hole in the member 10, or otherwise constructed to prevent the dog from turning; the spring 19 engaging the dog and normally forcing its nose into engagement with the ratchet teeth, and the Operating' knob or handle 20, by which the dog may be disenga'ged from the ratchet teeth. The upper end of lthe shank 14 has the outwardly projecting lip 21 shaped to conform, at least approximately, to the back of the rim 2 of the wheel. o

22 is' a hole in the upright 10 opposite the spring dog or bolt, for use in inserting and removing the dog or bolt. It will be noticed that the Operating knob or handle 20 is shown as detachable from the shank 18, so that the dog or bolt may be removed at pleasure. i

lfn operation, the base-piece 8 is placed at right angles to the wheel, on the road-bed or other suitable support, and the wheel clamp is then pressed down so that its lip 21 will engage with the back of the rim of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 2. rThis will serve to hold the wheel on the track while the lifting jack 7 is Operating upon the journal box 4. The lifting jack is supported upon the base-piece 8 which constitutes the jack-block of this title. Obviously any tendency of the liftingack to raise the car wheel from the track is resisted by'the wheel clamp, `and consequently the dislocation of the journal box is effected surely and expeditiously.

The outward inclination of the upright 10 is an important feature of the machine, in that it afl'ords room to remove and replace bearings on the car-wheel journals under any and all conditions. For example, if the wheel on ajournal to be operated upon should stand over a rail-joint provided with angle-bars as usual, it would be impossible to position a machine having a perpendicular upright so as to have its clamp reach over the obstruction into engagement with the wheel; whereas the inclination of the upright compensates for the obstruction and permits the engagement of the wheel by the clamp. And not only is this outward inclination of the upright effective to meet this condition, but it is equally effective where other track obstructions may occur and Where there are no such obstructions.

Variations in details of construction and arrangement yof parts are considered to be permissible Within the principle of the invention as herein claimed.

What I claim is 1. A journal j ach-block and Wheel clamp, having a base-piece to Support a lifting-jack, said base-piece provided at one end With an outwardly inclined upright having a longitudinal slot and grooves adjacent to said slot, a correspondingly inclined Wheel clamp having a shank provided With longitudinal side fianges, the said shank slidable in the slot and its flanges entering said grooves, a Wheel-engaging lip projecting gutwardly from the lshank7 and coperating means on the upright and Wheel clamp to hold the Wheel clamp in adjusted position. i 2. A journal j ach-block and Wheel clamp,

' having a base-piece to support a lifting-j ack and provided at one end With an outwardly inclined upright slotted longitudinally and provided With opposite grooves opening into said slot, and a wheel clarnp having a laterallyjfianged shank engaging said slot and grooves, one of the fianges on said shank having teeth, and a spring dog or bolt mounted in the saidrupright and engaging said teeth, and a elamping lip on said shank to engage the back of the rim of a car Wheel.

3. A journal j ack-block and Wheel clamp, having a |base-piece to support a lifting-jack and provided at one end With an outwardly inclined upright slotted longitudinally and provided With opposite grooves opening intosaid slot, and a Wheel clamp having a shank arranged in said slot and provided With lateral flanges engaging the grooves, one of said flanges having ratchet teeth, and a spring dog or bolt arranged in Said upright at right angles to the toothed flange and engaging the latter, and a lip at the outer end of the shank t engage the back of a car Wheel rim.

In testimony Whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 1?'I day of November A. D. 1920.

CHARLES O. VEST.

Witnesses:

R. J. GRAHAM, A. T. NEWTON. 

